Warwick Davis Blasts Disney With Throwback ‘Willow’ Image on Social Media - N SPORTS 2025

Warwick Davis has something to say to Disney as he was reminded of the way they scrubbed the legacy sequel series Willow from Disney+. The prolific actor, who became famous playing mulliple characters in franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars, was known to many as Willow Ufgood, the character that appeared with Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan in the classic ’80s fantasy movie. The veteran actor is not OK with the controversial decision to remove the series from Disney+, the streaming platform where most Disney-owned franchises make their return (most of them in TV format).

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Davis posted a photo of himself as Willow on X/Twitter, and he called out Disney+ for making sure shareholders were happy, regardless of what subscribers felt. The caption on his post reads: “This image just came up as a photo memory. A BTS shot from the #Willow Series. It’s a travesty that ⁦⁦@DisneyPlus⁩ value shareholders over subscribers in their creative decision-making. #Justsaying I only ever saw each episode once!”

In case you were under a rock one year ago, this is how it went: Execs over at the House of Mouse made a controversial decision regarding Davis’ highly-hyped return as Willow in an eight-episode series exclusively released on Disney+. The show premiered to good reviews from critics, but did not achieve the level of vieweship that Disney had hoped it would bring. With a run of poor audience reviews added into the mix, it vanished from the streamer without a trace as part of a purge where content from Disney+ and Hulu was removed to cut costs.

The original 1988 film is a fantasy classic from the 1980s starring Davis, Kilmer, Jean Marsh, and Kevin Pollak, among others. Directed by Ron Howard, and based on a story by George Lucas, the film wasn’t exactly a blockbuster back then. It made over $137 million, but it was a fairly expensive film ($35 million in the mid-1980s was a load of money). It found success when released on home media, and with time, it turned into a 1980s film with a decent cult following.

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This cult following was probably what made Disney think about rebooting the franchise in TV series form. After all, their close relationship with Lucasfilm has resulted in huge Star Wars shows that, in spite of mixed reviews, have gained a notable following from fans. Then again, Star Wars and Willow are anything but comparable.

The universe of Star Wars is a golden goose, even if some of the stories being told feel like uninspired cash grabs. In the case of Willow, the original film portrayed a compelling wizard defending a baby from an evil witch. Of course, there are more shades to the story, but that’s about it. Willow was a pioneering film in the field of CGI, and as a dark fantasy it had its moments. While there may have been more story to be told, the question was did audiences want to see more of Willow in the tale the series told. Was there enough love from fans to justify a show that cost more than $150 million for what felt like a generic fantasy premise?

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‘Willow’ fans will be able to get their hands on a new 4K Blu-ray release this December.

Perhaps the answer lies in what series creator Jonathan Kasdan said about the removal of Willow: “I worry about many things… but NONE of them are that Willow will never be available again.” While Willow may not be gone forever, if Kasdan is right, there are probably a lot of people out there who feel the same frustration Warwick Davis does.